It easy to think at the beginning of a study that once care homes have been recruited, the rest of the study will be plain sailing…. think again!

When developing a research study there is lots of information on how to design a study; however, there is less guidance available on how to go about collecting the data and working with participants. This is something I reflected upon whilst developing the training for researchers working on the IDEAL study (Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life; www.IDEALproject.org.uk).

The ENRICH initiative has been running for several years, the overall aim has been to improve the support provided to researchers wishing to work with care homes, improve care homes access, influence and involvement in research and address issues with care home residents being underrepresented in research and in clinical trials.

I have had the honour of being involved in a number of studies involving those living, and working, in care homes over the past few years. This has meant seeing first-hand how challenging it can be for care homes to balance research activities alongside their, often extremely busy, role providing care for those living there. But also, how their commitment to ensuring that their residents are provided with the best possible care is woven through both these roles.

When a researcher leaves a care home after gathering the information they need, this may be the end of the research for the staff and residents, but it is just the beginning of the next stage of the process for the researcher – analysing and sharing their findings.

I first dipped my toe into the world of research almost 10 years ago when conducting a randomised control trial investigating infection control in care homes. We were specifically looking at MRSA infection rates in care homes, when MRSA was an extremely hot topic in the media.

When people think of research they often think of clinical trials and scientists in white coats in laboratories, but social and technological research is equally important. Research into the best ways to care for people is paramount as current standards often fall short of the ideal. This is often due to, in the past, low pay and low public esteem as to the work that goes on in care homes.

There has been an increase in research of dementia end-of-life care in recent years, in this blog Professor Iliffe looks at the progress being made.

We have all heard the old adages ‘Never work with children or animals’ or ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ and I think that sometimes research in care homes and with people with dementia are often perceived similarly by fellow academics; just too difficult to do and only undertaken by the foolhardy.

Working in care home research for the past five years has meant visiting a lot of homes.